Maybe what I’m trying to say is that this is one clean, good looking custom bagger that doesn’t need to go way over the top to make its statement. One look and you can tell that somebody wanted a crazy custom bagger that didn’t look cartoonish in any way and with the turbocharged firepower to back it up. I wouldn’t suggest putting your money where your mouth is. Just walk away and never return to the Casino de Monte-Carlo (not the one in Vegas) or wherever and leave Mr. Bond alone.

 

   I don’t know if I’m getting a bit jaded from seeing all these big wheel bikes, but for some reason the 30-inch MAD Wheels front wheel doesn’t stick out or see out of proportion like it can on some builds. Maybe it’s the quietly subdued satin finish on the graceful eight-spoke design against a glass black canvas that’s tricking me a bit, but the wheel is somehow integrated into the design and not one that looks like it’s pulling a bunch of motorcycle stuff behind it so it can get where it’s going. Or maybe it was my eyes locking on to the turbo and intercooler hanging off the right side. I’ve always been a sucker for forced induction since I first put a 6-71 GMC blower on my AMT ’40 Ford coupe kit as a kid. Forced induction just means more fun in the same package to me.

 

   Needles to say, building a big wheeler requires mods to the stock frame and Azzikr turned to Misfit Industries for one of their slip-on (very so-to-speak) neck kits and a set of their triple trees to get decent geometry for something this outlandish compared to stock. After zipping up the fork with Azzkikr sliders, the big hoop found a home wearing a big, but delicate looking rotor that looks like it’s just floating in air squeezed by two calipers to add a bit of mechanical interest. The whole brake setup and the groovy front fender are all courtesy of one of Barnett Magazine Online’s favorite thinkers and builders, Aaron Glenndyne of Glenndyne Design. Out back it’s the custom bagger version of love the one you’re with as it’s stock as the day it was born. Another case of if you can’t see it, why spend money on it other than to be a braggart tool.

 

   Just like a lowrider has to have hydraulics to call itself a lowrider in my book, it’s not a custom bagger without some form of air suspension to drop it to terra firma. American Suspension provided one of their high quality on-board up-and-down kits so you can breathe easy in case you were wondering if this was truly a custom bagger. None of the now standard custom bagger stuff from air to audio and everything else in between was left out so take a slow breath and repeat.

 

   It’s pretty unusual to hop up, really hop up a bagger motor that spends a disproportionate amount of time on the show circuit like this one does. Most “hop upps” consist of intake and exhaust and lotsa chrome bits. Nothing wrong with that as it makes for a pleasant ride after its show time has expired, but not this one. I’d dare guess that this was built for some serious road work at some point even if it’s just being the neighborhood hooligan. Matt Trask of Trask Performance in Phoenix, Arizona, not only supplied one of his wicked intercooled turbo kits, but was called on to build the FLTRI engine up too. The valve train was seriously upgraded from a Screamin’ Eagle 266E cam to Trask’s rocker arms, push rods, lifters and blocks. This engine is like going to a great party where Megan Fox shows up unexpectedly. What’s great just became even greater. That big bastard of an exhaust (that’s a compliment) is courtesy of Azzkikr and I can only imagine the deafening, yet lovely vintage Can Am car big-block bellow it must put out as it goes through the whole rev range.

 

   Once more, Azzkikr has come up with its own body pieces that have a hint of where they came from, but the inspired lines of the slimmed-down FLTR-inspired fairing really makes this bike what it is, but without being over bearing in any way. The sleek fairing has a trimmed down sporty look that Road Glides are missing. I’ve never been a big fan of the stock FLTR look although the new one is growing a bit (only a bit) on me, but here it just looks gorgeous. The way everything flows beautifully front to back like running water flowing over a rocky river bed makes for uninterrupted views. By that I mean there’s nothing that sticks out and screws with the flow of the lines. It’s smooth, yet quietly stunning and makes you want to go back and do it over and over.

 

   Part of that might be Azzkikr’s choice of painter for this build. Brian Horstmann of Sinthium Custom Paint in Phoenix was responsible for the deep gloss black paint and beautifully restrained graphics. The curvaceous silver striping bordered with red pinstriping wanders around the bodywork showing off the lines while making a few of its own. Tasteful, tasteful, tasteful. I love that they knew what they had and didn’t feel the need to gimmick it up by festooning it with everything in the artist’s book. Maybe I should have said classy, classy, classy instead. Either way, you get where I’m coming from even if you disagree. It’s more Cary Grant than Tom Green.

 

   Akzzkikr fabbed up a set of bars, risers and grips to give a place for the rider’s hands to reach from his perch on the beautifully crafted, yet nicely unadorned for a change solo seat by a talented guy named Guy Tieman at his aptly-named business, Guy’s Upholstery in Mesa, Arizona. It’s nice to see a seat that just looks like a seat, albeit a well-made seat that could have been done on the side by a person who makes seats for Bentleys. There’s just a quiet richness about this saddle that I can’t help but admire.

 

  The Edmonson clan at Azzkikr Custom Baggers continue to turn out bagger after bagger that always has a look of its own. This is one case where it’s not just about the custom bagger paintjob for a change, but subtlety and elegance with a side order of ridiculous performance are tastefully combined in a package that’s all too rare these days. It’s a perfect ride for the passive/aggressive, introvert/extrovert in all of us. At least that’s the way I see it and I’m sticking to it.

 

For more information on what Azzkikr Custom Baggers is up to, just click on http://azzkikrcustombaggers.com/, check out their Facebook page. But most importantly, stay tuned to Barnett’s Magazine Online in the coming weeks as photog extraordinaire, Jack Cofano, captured quite a few more of Azzkikr’s creations that we will be featuring.